Classical paint schemes (in my view) tend to possess an 'enduring' quality which some of the newfangled efforts lack. I remember when Bell first came out with a series of 'flashes and squiggles' among their factory options .. the looked 'trendy' at the time but .. a decade or so later appeared positively heathen!
As an example of the enduring appeal of classical schemes .. in 2008 when Air France celebrated their 75th Anniversary they painted-up an A320 in their 1940's livery and which (to me) looked just splendid! See
here.
Its all down to personal preference (obviously) but .. I prefer John's latest scheme .. in particular the colour-coded pop-outs!
Re: the Merlin .. the Danish craft appears to have a yellow flash on the tailboom which is lacking in the Rochester photo so, I'm guessing she's a different craft.